Have any of you guys recieved anything from Garritys in last year? I've been waiting since last May was told 5 month wait Its been 9 and still nothing I've contacted them in November and was told couple more weeks I see wedsite still quoting 4-5 months but I'm not sure their still in business. ???

Hopefully I'm not breaking any forum rules, but I borrowed this post from Mark Garrity from another site.

Quote:

I just had a customer tell me he sent me 2 e-mails I never recieved, but got one he sent from a different e-mail account, so i don't know if my SPAM filter is blocking Yahoo and G-Mail.

There have been some issues in my pesonal life this past year, coupled with my full-time job and admittedly biting off more than I can chew and demand being far greater than what I can produce; which have resulted in longer than anticipated wait times. Recently i have not been able to devote nearly as much time to leatherwork as I would like. I would love to be able to leave police work and make holsters full-time, but I am not in a position to do that currently and won't be for a few years. I cannot wait for that day though.

I have considered giving up the holster-biz, but every time I mention it a customer or friend talks me into sticking with it.

I don't know if that makes you feel any better, but those are his reasons for the extended delivery times.

You would think that he would've learned by now how to straighten things out. It makes me wonder, if he hasn't learned yet, if he was the child that kept playing "Lick the Pump Handle" during the winter and expecting different results each time?

I'm saying this with the preface that I usually take the side of the holster maker. I feel for them because I've seen from my forays into holster making that it takes an awful lot of time and it's also easy to see how one could fall behind before they knew it. And there is so little return for the time invested I can see why so many can't give up their "day job".

I also think the wait thus far has been quite reasonable for a custom holster.

However...

As Biker says, I think I've seen this same thing from the same source at least once before. It is such a common occurrence in the industry that I could be confusing who it was, but it sounds very, very familiar, so I don't think so. If you get that far into this mess once, I can understand. But twice (at least), I'm having trouble grasping.

My old favorite, Lou Alessi, got behind too, as the good ones always do. But he would cut off orders until he got caught up. Same with the top pistolsmiths. That's too bad for potential customers, but it keeps them as potential customers and not angry people waiting on an order.

I looked at the Garrity's Gunleather website just now, and there is no mention of a hold on orders. If things are as bad he lets on, there should be a statement you can't miss, right on the homepage saying he is not accepting orders. Once you get to the "Ordering" page, there is a mention that due to the current backlog, he is no longer requiring pre-payment. Apparently he is still taking orders, just not requiring payment with them. I don't see how that will do anything to reduce the backlog and might even increase it.

I hope he gets things straightened out, because he does beautiful work.

I'd sure hate for him to stop because he doesn't seem to be able to say no.

My old favorite, Lou Alessi, got behind too, as the good ones always do. But he would cut off orders until he got caught up.

I had the bad misfortune of placing my order with Lou Alessi as he was dying. It took three years for me to get that holster from his family but they took over and it is a great holster. I don't know what the backlog is now that he is gone but the one I have is great.

I know that Milt Sparks is irregular in taking their orders. But the one I got from a fellow on this site is a fine example of the leatherworkers art.

I want a new holster set for my 1911s and I am thinking of placing an order with a custom maker. You know, I may order another Alessi!

Yes, I received a Garrity Enforcer belt holster for my BHP, as well as for my Colt CCO. Actually it was in August 2009. I was lucky and a customer had just defaulted on them, so they were instantly available. They are my favorite holsters for those weapons.